Page 24 of The Loves We Lost

“Lucky guy. Pretty girl. You two back on now?”

“Fuck no,” I say it so vehemently that I choke on the hash brown and take a sip of coffee, which scalds my mouth. “Motherfucker.”

“So, what was all that about then?”

I shrug, and the action reminds me I can still smell her on my skin. “A bad fucking idea. Thought it might bring closure, seeing as she’s the one who split us up.”

“Did it work?”

“Jury’s still out.”

Both our phones vibrate on the table.

King:@halo @bates ... where the fuck are you?

“I got it,” I say.

Me:Still in NYC.

King:You coming back soon?

Me:Just eating breakfast then on our way.

King:Perfect. See you later.

Halo stuffs a quarter of a sausage in his mouth. “Thank god he didn’t say right away.” The words are mumbled.

We eat quietly for ten more minutes. A woman who clearly doesn’t want to be working here shoves the coffee pot in our faces every few minutes, asking if we want another cup. I takeher up on it each time, as the caffeine makes up for the fact I barely slept last night.

When we get back to the club, King is at the bar, drinking with Vex, Saint, Clutch, and Spark.

“Why are you all standing around here on a Sunday afternoon?” I ask.

As I finish the sentence, a group of old ladies walks in with Niro. “Ask your bestie,” King says.

“What did he do?”

Niro rolls his eyes as he gets closer. “He’s pissed at me. Again.”

“I asked you to take responsibility for teaching the old ladies self-defense,” King says.

“You can’t get more defensive than killing the other fucker,” Niro argues.

I try to swallow the laugh that almost escapes. “What’s going on?”

Niro looks at me. “King said teach ’em self-defense. So, I set up Self-Defense Sundays. Just doing what I was asked.”

“Turns out I’m a good knife thrower,” Rae says.

“Better not piss your old lady off while she’s cooking, Prez,” Halo says.

This time I can’t bite back the laugh, although it’s more of a snort.

“And to be fair, nunchucks aren’t a million miles from the baton I used to twirl as a majorette in high school,” Iris says.

Spark looks at me with an eyebrow raised, as if to say this is the bullshit he’s had to deal with.

“You did great, Iris,” Niro says. “Next time we’ll work some more on those angled diagonal strikes.”